


Two Steps Behind.

by misswritingobsessed



Category: Bodyguard (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Future Fic, Romance, alternative ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 14:32:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17962388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misswritingobsessed/pseuds/misswritingobsessed
Summary: David always walks two steps behind Julia, no matter what point in time, no matter what the circumstances are.





	Two Steps Behind.

**Author's Note:**

> It's really not the best summary I have ever written, but I hope the actual writing makes up for that. Please let me know if this needs to be taken down, or if it was actually readable!  
> (I am also super worried this may have some errors in it - if it does, please forgive me. I promise I did proof read!)

**2018.**

David walked two steps behind her, his eyes switching from her back, to their surroundings, his colleagues and then her back again. It’s a routine that all PPO’s fall into, unless the principle is in immediate danger, you walk two steps behind, you stay quiet and you keep your eyes open. 

And nine times out of ten, every principle knew this, respected it and hopefully felt comfortable with it. 

David could tell that Ms Montague, the seeming unbreakable Home Secretary was used to bodyguards, house checks and the lack of privacy, which made his role a little easier to do. He was used to foreign dignitaries putting up a fight and was half expecting one from the woman he was following around the commons, but clearly, she seemed unbothered by his presence. 

_‘She prefers it when you walk two steps behind.’_ He remembered Kim saying when he got the assignment.

_‘She’s not exactly ‘chatty’_   _either.’_ Tom had then informed him. 

Walking two steps behind and not talking. David could manage that. 

 

Julia didn’t know why he was different, PS Budd was like any other protection officer she had. Or that’s what she told herself. 

She didn’t necessarily enjoy the forced company, but so far PC’s Knowles and Fenton has given her nothing to complain about, she even thought that at some stage she could be friendly with them.

However, David Budd. There was just something about him, and she couldn’t work out if it was positive or negative.

All she could do was tell herself that he was there to keep her safe and as long as he stuck to the two simple rules that Julia had laid out for her protection detail, she figured everything would continue to run smoothly. 

_‘He’s one of the best, ma’am.’_  PC Knowles had replied when she asked about her new PPO.

_‘Not at all, ma’am, both PC Knowles and I have worked with him before, he’s very good at the job.’_  PC Fenton had reassured her when she asked if he minded that PS Budd was taking over.

She wondered if they were both just lying, but only moments in she could see what they meant by good at the job. 

David Budd was professional, which Julia liked, his accent made her weak at the knees and just looking at him made her feel hot, which maybe wasn’t so good, but as long as he did his job, and kept her safe, she didn’t see an issue with having someone like him walking two steps behind her. 

**2020.**

David didn’t feel much like a boyfriend, it was more like ‘PPO with privileges’ or at least one privilege while out in public - he could physically touch her.

Things were different back at her flat, the routine had changed from checking the flat to walking straight to her bedroom after hours in the office. 

Things were different now, people were shouting his name along with Julia’s as they walked through the lobby of the hotel, aiming for the conference room where Julia would give a speech. 

Despite walking next to her, his eyes were still open, every so often checking in with his former colleagues. He trusted them but training never leaves you, still, he would check her flat before letting her get any further from than the living room. Many people thought him opening her car door for her was him being a gentleman, it wasn’t, it was something that had been drilled into him, and that was only the training he’d received with the police, it didn’t begin to cover the training he’d been given in the army.

He put a hand on Julia’s back to guide her through the halls and groups of staff who’d all left the office to see the Home Secretary. It seemed foreign to be touching her like this, even though it was the smallest of gestures, and something meaningless compared to the touching they did in the privacy of her flat, it still felt wrong, he felt like he needed to be two steps behind, staying silent, looking for threats.

So, as they approached the hosts of the event, that’s what David did. He went back to being a PPO, he fell in line with Kim, walking two steps behind, staying quiet and looking out for potential threats. 

 

Julia hadn’t expected David to adjust right away. In all honesty, she hadn’t expected him at this event, but he was. 

She knew sooner or later that it would get the better of him, the very nature of what she was doing called for security, she knew it wouldn’t be long before he was walking alongside her protection detail, smile gone off his face, eyes open to everything and everyone within ten metres of her. 

Admittedly, it made her feel comfortable, his presence was calming, she had both his love and his protection, that protection being a little more personal now, but she still had it, and was still grateful for it. 

All she wanted was to get tonight done and over with, she wanted to be at home, where David was close to her, for the first time in her life she wanted someone in her physical space, she wanted to feel him at her side.

But for now, and until he was comfortable, until they were both comfortable, she wouldn’t argue, she would just let it play out.

Julia knew deep down she would rather have him walk two steps behind than not be with her at all, because all she wanted was for him to be close, so she could feel safe, and feel loved. 

**2025.**

David knew being married to the Prime Minister would include events like this. Entertaining heads of states in lavish dining rooms, with expensive wine and fancy menus. He didn’t do many events, the odd one here and there. He and Julia had agreed that he would stay at work, and the kids would still go to the same school, the three of them would be kept out of the spotlight.

David knew it wasn’t all bad, the upside being Julia. She always knew how to put on an event, something he hadn’t expected from her in the beginning, that and she always seemed to know how to dress, more so how to dress to ensure that his eyes were kept firmly on her.

The entered the dining room, and he tried to smile as he scanned the various guest. By this point, Kim and Tom had stopped waiting for him to ask for guest lists and risk assessments, they just copied him into the emails. It had even gotten to the point where Lorraine Craddock would email him ahead of time to let him know if their would be a change in staffing or Julia’s protection detail, and that was just the start, despite not being the favourite of her officers, Anne Sampson had also given him the all clear to be wherever Julia needed him to be should something happen.

David began following Julia’s lead, shaking hands with various guests, hoping no one felt the need to start a conversation. He did the simple ‘hello’ and ‘good to see you’ the very basics, which again, he had learnt from his wife.

Admittedly, he wanted to be doing other things, Deepak had invited him and some others out of drinks, and despite not being that kind of guy any more, he would take a crowded pub full of football fans over fancy dinners any day of the week. All he kept telling himself was that he was doing it for Julia.

He was walking two steps behind the Prime Minister because he loved her, because he couldn’t say no to her, and because he knew what he signed up for. He would tell anyone else, and he really would have chosen a crowded pub over a fancy dining room, but Julia, his wife, the Prime Minister, was the one person he couldn’t say no to.

And with that in mind, he kept on smiling, walking two steps behind.

 

Julia much rather wanted him right beside her. Walking arm in arm, but she knew she needed to take what she could get given that she had forced him to come. In her defensive it was every week she asked him to be there, and this occasion was more personal.

She had chosen her outfit especially for him. A silent ‘I’ll thank you later’ because she knew she would need to make it up to her husband at some point.

As she smiled at guests, shaking hands, getting into quick conversations, she couldn’t help but keep glancing to her left, making sure he was still there and not staring someone down because they held her hand a little too long. She knew that is wasn’t really the behaviour that the spouse of the Prime Minister should be showing off, but Julia couldn’t deny she liked it.

She liked how protective he was. How much he cared for her safety and wellbeing, and the fact that she knew no harm would come to her if he had his way.

She and David had spoken beforehand, and she remembered smiling as he watched him go over the guest list before handing it back to Tom, and then double checking with Kim what the exit protocol was. She wanted to get involved, give some comment about how they’d kept her alive this long, but she knew David, and she knew all of his questions came from a place of love for her, and not from being untrusting of her protection detail – her protection detail were David’s closest friends after all.

Now, an hour later, she was still making her way through a line of people who were here to see her, her husband walking two steps behind, and although she knew deep down he didn’t want to be here, she was grateful that he was, thankful that he’d not argued, and happy the she got to show him off a little bit, even if it was only to annoy her ex-husband.

She’d rather have him by her side, if she was being truthful.

But, by her side or two steps behind her, he was there, as her husband, and as her protector.

**Author's Note:**

> So, was it readable, or?


End file.
